First up - Hedgehog Awareness Week is here (well, it started yesterday but I was busy and then went to the cinema with my son - and can report that Thunderbolts* is definitely worth watching!) But I am back into the hedgehog universe now - today with a few ways you can help our favourite animal by becoming a ‘citizen scientist.’

When I started researching hedgehogs - back in 1986, (which is not, as I was telling someone recently, nearly 30 years ago, but … and honestly, I did get an A level in Maths, it was nearly 40 years ago!!!) there were very few people doing anything similar. Really it was just Pat Morris and Nigel Reeve - both good friends now - oh, and my colleague from Leicester Polytechnic - Kerry Seel. Now, this is a long shot, but, I have lost touch with Kerry - does anyone out there know her?

Now there are many amazing scientists at work, looking at better understanding hedgehog behaviour and ecology so that we can better help them. There are a few rather Trumpian folk who seem to think we know enough about hedgehogs now and that scientists are just wasting time. Fortunately they are a minority!!

The team, many of who I have met at conferences and meetings, are doing really interesting things, but they cannot do everything. And gone is the world view that says only people with a degree and a lab coat can usefully contribute towards science! Which is why much hedgehog work relies on another, much larger, team of citizen scientists.

Would you like to be a citizen scientist?? In some instances, this can be done from your sofa, others will require a little more effort! Here follows some ways you can get involved.

National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme

I have already written to you about the NHMP - this is science you can do from your sofa …. Follow the link and you will also find a video narrated by yours truly!

Spot a Hog

I wrote about this one recently … not a simple thing to do, be warned, BUT - if you can you will really be helping further our knowledge of hedgehog populations around the country.

Hogs on Film

PhD student Lea Grayston-Smith is full of energy and would love you to help with her work, follow the link and see if it is something you can do!

Living with Mammals

This is not just hedgehogs … but they are an important component. Towns and cities are busy, noisy places, but it’s here that most of us live and encounter nature. We know the importance of connecting to nature for our own health and wellbeing, and by monitoring wild mammals, it gives us an indication of the ‘green health’ of our communities. So whether you have hedgehogs under your hedges, squirrels in your school grounds or even a pine marten on your patio, join in with Living with Mammals.

The Great British Hedgerow Survey

Now, this is not specifically a ‘hedgehog’ survey, but there is a clue … we all know, or at least I hope we do, that hedgehogs love to hog the hedge … and a healthy network of hedgerows would make the rural landscape a far more comfortable one for our beloved beasties. This survey wants both land managers and members of the public to collect data on the health of hedgerows. Follow the link for details.

In other news … 1st May is a big day in Oxford - and I had a very privileged position this year - read all about it here.

I have mentioned the subscription based column I write, so, here is a taster.

Cornwall - here I come - 29th May I will be in Calstock, and on the 30th in Newquay - come and say hi!

More soon … wish me luck … tomorrow the BHPS have got me doing a quiz on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio … there are different hedgehoggy sorts on all week at 1210 … I have a horrible feeling that my lack of knowledge about anything other than hedgehogs may let me down!!